Car-door.



PATENTBD DEG. 11, 1906.

T. MAYHEW. GAR DOOR.

APPLIOA'HOH HLBD rma. s. 190e.

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UNITED STATES PATENTA OFFICE.

THEOPHILUS MAYHEWV, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN PROMOTING COMPANY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OE ARIZONA TERRITORY.

CAR-DOOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 11, 1906.

T0 a/ZZ whom it muy concer-m Be it known that I, THEoPi-IILUs MAYHEW, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Doors, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in car-doors, and especially to doors for express, freight, and other cars designed to carry valuable goods; and its object is to provide a door so constructed and arranged that it cannot be opened except at certain stations and which does not depend up on any lock or similar device to prevent its being opened.

To this end the invention consists in providing a vertically-movable door arranged to be opened by a downward movement and which when closed extends downward to a point close to the track or road-bed, so that said door can be opened only when the car is placed so the door comes opposite a suitable pit into which it may be lowered.

The invention also consists in certain other new and useful features and the particular construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, all as hereinafter more fully described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of a railway-car having a door embodying the invention and showing parts broken away to show the construction and also showing the door in its open position and the pit in section. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail showing a door and the adjacent parts of the car in horizontal section.

As shown in the drawings, A represents the sides of the car, in which the door-openings B are located, said openings being preferably formed by a cast-metal casing I, the upright side members of which are preferably curved from the outward surface of the car inward some distance and formed with vertical guide-grooves 2 at their inner edges for the doors 8, which may be constructed of sheet metal or otherwise made strong and heavy. Extending downward through the bottom of the car from the lower end of these grooves to a point just above the track-rails C and adj acent to the inner sides thereof are the casings 4,' within which the doors are guided and slide freely, and said doors when raised vertically to their closed position are of such a length that they extend downw ard in the casings to the bottoms thereof or to a point very near the rails and road-bed. The top or transverse member 5 of the door-casing is formed with a very deep groove or channel i 6 to receive the upper end of the door, said channel being of a depth greater than the distance from the lower end of the door to the ties D, so that should said door be lowered upon the ties there would be no opening between its upper end and the casing.

In order that the doors may be opened at certain stations, suitable pits 7 are built in the road-bed, into which the doors may be lowered. These pits may be formed in any desired manner, as by forming separate brick pits for each door closed by a suitable cover when not in use, as shown, or one large pit may be made constructed of other suitable material, as desired.

To assist in raising and lowering the doors, to the upper ends of each are attached chains or cables 8, which extend over pulleys 9 within the car above the door, and to the o posite ends of said cables are attached ba ance-weights 10, guided by and slidablewithin vertical tubes 11, which extend downward through the bottom of the car at each side of the casing 4 and are closed at their lower ends. The weights are thus guided throughout the length of their travel, and should a cable break they are prevented from being lost by the closed lower ends of said tubes. To prevent the door from dropping should the cables break and to lock the door in its raised position, any suitable fastening, such as the catch l2, is pivoted within a recess 13 in either side of the cast door-sill 14 to be turned into engagement with a recess in the door.

The car is made particularly adaptable for the carrying of through valuable freight, express, &c., as the sealing or other locking of the car is made unnecessary and pilfering therefrom is absolutely prevented.

I-Iaving thus fully described my invention, what I claim isl, The combination with a car having a door-opening, of a door to close said opening adapted to be moved vertically downward to open the same and of such a vertical length as roo to reach from the upper end of said opening to a point adjacent to the rails and road-bed. 2. The ,combination with a car having a 'door-opening .in its vertical wall and an open- 3. The combination with a car having aV door-opening, of a door to close said opening adapted to be opened by a vertical downward movement of the door and'when in a closed position extends upward beyond the upper edge of the opening and downward to a point adjacent to the track or road-bed, the distance from the lower end of said door to said track or road-bed being less than the distance which the upper end of the door extends above the upper edge of the opening.

4. The combination with a car having a door-opening, of vertical guideways at each side of said opening, a casing extending downward through the bottom of the car from the lower end of said ways, a verticallymovable door in said ways and casing extending from the upper end of the door-openng to a point adjacent to the track or road- 5. The combination with a car having a door-opening, of a door-casing formed with vertical guideways and a deep horizontal groove at its upper end, a door movable vertically in said guideways and extending upward with its upper end in the groove and downward with its lower end ay lesser distance from the track or road-bed than the depth of said groove.

6. The combination with a car having a door-opening, of a door-casing formed with vertical guideways and a deep horizontal groove at its upper end, an open-ended casing extending downward through the bottom of the car from saidways to a point adjacent to the rails or road-bed, a door vertically movable in said ways and casing and extending from within the groove downward to the bottom of the casing, and means for counterbalancing said door.

7. The combination with a car having a door-opening, of a door-casing formed with vertical guideways and a horizontal groove at its upper end, a casing extending downward from the bottom of said ways through the car-bottom to a point adjacent to the rails or road-bed7 a door movable vertically in said ways and extending from engagement with said groove at its upper end downward to the bottom of the casing with its lower end adjacent to the rails or road-bed, vertical tubes at the sides of the door-casing within the car, pulleys, cables attached to the door and extending over said pulleys, and weights within said tubes secured to the ends of the 1 cables.

8. The combination with a car having a door-opening, of a door-casing extending inward from the outer surface of the car and formed with guideways at its inner edge and a deep horizontal groove at its upper end, an open ended casing extending downward from the lower ends of said ways through the bottom ofthe car to a point adjacent to the rails or road-bed, a vertically-movable door in said ways and casing engaging the groove and extending downward to the lower end of the casing7 vertical tubes having closed lower ends extending downward through the bottom of the car at each end of the casing7 pulleys supported at the upper end of said tubesabove the ways, cables attached at one end to the door and extending over said pulleys, and weights in said tubes attached to the opposite ends of said cables.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

j THEOPHILUS MAYHEV.

. Vitnesses:

OTTO F. BARTHEL, Tnos. G. LoNGsTAFF. 

